Devil's Bedstead (East)

Devil's Bedstead (11,865')

Bob had called on Thursday and wanted to do something on Friday.  I told him that I had been planning on skiing the Devil's Bedstead.  He said that that would work for something to do.

The drive was less eventful than I thought it would be.  Trail Creek road is in excellent condition, as was Kane Creek road.  We were able to make it in to the creek fords.  We parked and started in shoes from here.  By the way, on the map below, I call Kane Creek a river.  It's not. 

All the major creek crossings are bridged.  The trail is very well maintained and we encountered no major deadfall.  

         

Eventually you start up a steep treed ridge.  There is a faint trail all the way to the DBE basin.  We didn't hit snow that we could skin on until around 9,000'.  After that, it was a very straightforward climb.

At the top, we transitioned, ate a PB&J sandwich and started down the face.

The top was breakable crust.  Then for about 100 feet it was hardpack.  After all that, it turned to glorious corn!  In perfect conditions, this would by far be my favorite Idaho classic descent!  The choice of lines is amazing.  I stayed in the center until the lower rock bands and then traversed skier's right.

The trip out was difficult due to the bottomless slush lower down.  Eventually we were back at the Suby and inching out Kane Creek road.  To make it a perfect day, we stopped and had a burrito at KB's!